Lightning and Tears
by depthoffury
Summary: Sasuke comes back to kill them all.Under the orders of Tsunade, Sakura and Naruto undergo a strange jutsu.What happens when it goes terribly very wrong for Naruto? Sasuke is still out there, disguised as well.Is anyone safe? Under Edit
1. Blood Bath

**A/N: This chapter has been edited slightly. Hopefully it will smooth out a bit better later. Read and Review. Tell me what you think of this chapter when you're done reading it. I want your honest opinion, my readers. I accept flame and freakishly hard criticism within good reason.**

**oOoOo**

"Sakura…" A voice whispered into her ear softly. It was so familiar. It filled her with the memory of a night many years ago and the morning when she woke up to find herself alone on a cold bench. She turned around quickly at the voice only to see herself wrapped in darkness. Her hospital work surroundings had disappeared and now there was only an infinite darkness. There was no one behind her at all yet her name was still resonating off whatever walls that might have been surrounding her. The sound seemed to have a mind of its own as it kept playing itself over again like a broken record.

Sakura tried gathering chakra into her hands to light up the room but instead it hurt to try. Her chakra had been drained? How long has this person been draining her? She cautiously stepped forward, holding out her hand to feel anything.

At the moment she was blind and there was nothing to touch. There was nothing to hear but her footsteps and no reason, much less an object or scent, to taste or smell. She felt useless and would continue to feel as such until one of her senses could be used to help her out of this darkness.

"Sakura…" The voice was so close behind Sakura and she could even feel hot breath on her neck as the words were ushered past familiar lips. She whipped around again but her senses were again lost to her and she could only think that this person was very stealthy.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Sakura commanded. If it was who she thought it was, then he would not keep himself in the shadows for long.

"Come here, Sakura." This time the voice was farther up ahead. As she looked, a blinding light seemed to come from a door very far away from her. Sakura blinked her eyes rapidly in reaction to the sudden change. Only when her eyes had adjusted did she see him. The owner of the voice that had been so familiar stood in the lights gleam before her in all his stoic glory. Sakura fell to her knees. She hadn't seen him in years but here he was.

His hair was longer and the rims under his eyes were darker but it was the same man standing there as before. He pointed his katana at her neck and smirked. His blade only grazed Sakura's neck, leaving a small slash of blood. Saying she was stunned was an understatement.

"Get up, Sakura. Come with me." He turned and walked through the door. It took a few moments, but Sakura was soon up and running after him. She wasn't going to let him get away again. Not after the last time.

As she caught up with him, she saw her surroundings change once again. She was outside. For some strange reason it was raining, a thing that only happened with the occurrence of a tragedy. Her eyes bore into the man's back as he began to lead her through the village of Konoha. He was so indifferent to the rain, as if it wasn't there. He took her to the Yamanaka flower shop.

Everything seemed normal. Sakura walked through the doors and scanned the room. There wasn't anyone here.

'_That's odd. There's always someone here during open hours.'_

"Ino?" Sakura called out to her friend, walking further into the shop and forgetting the man that led her here. She decided they must be busy in the back. It did happen on occasion. She turned her attention to the flowers. It was then that Sakura noticed that all the flowers had been drenched in a crimson liquid. Blood, and it was long cold. She ran over to the counter, not knowing what to expect.

Sakura gasped, tears escaping her eyes. She reached out a hand to her friend on the floor and pressed it against Ino's neck. There was no pulse. It was too late. Judging by the wounds on her dear blonde friend, she hadn't suffered for any longer than a few minutes.

Ino had several slits on her throat, a charred gaping hole where her heart should be that was still seeping blood, and several other minor lacerations. It was a gruesome death. Sakura could not pull her eyes away. Ino's body already reeked like rotting, burning flesh. She had been dead a while. The body would suggest a few hours if not longer.

Sakura grabbed her gloves. Whoever had done this would die a slow torturous death. She would have no mercy. She was about to leave and start on the trail of this murderer until a voice stopped her.

"Come. We must continue, Sakura." The man led her away once more, this time with some force. Sakura had yet to calm down, because she knew. She was following Ino's murderer. And he wanted to show her more.

Soon she had been lead through the entire village. She was soaking wet, hiding her never ending tears with the falling rain. Sakura didn't know why she still followed him. He had shown her all of the bodies of her viciously killed friends and teammates. Everyone, even civilians, was dead. All of them.

'_This isn't real. This isn't real! It can't be real! There's no way everyone could've died!'_ She clung to her safe thoughts. It wasn't until he led her to a familiar building that she had to stop.

'_Not here! He can't do this. I won't let him.'_ Sakura was about to strike the man in front of her until he spun around to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. His grip was firm and made it clear that he knew she was about to retaliate.

"Now, Sakura, you really shouldn't be so defiant. He has to die sometime." The man's familiar voice sounded soothing, no matter how hard of an impact the words had on her. He took her inside of Naruto's apartment.

'_He said "has," meaning that Naruto hasn't been killed yet.' _She stepped into the room to find her best friend asleep_. '__There is still hope. If I can wake him, we can get through this.'_ She reached her hand out and grabbed his shoulder. Sakura shook him vigorously despite the man chuckling behind her.

"He won't wake. Your attempts are futile. All you can do is watch while he dies!" And as he uttered those words he unsheathed his katana once again. Before Sakura could process his actions, the katana made its way to Naruto's heart. Blood seeped through the sheets and the steady breathing stopped. Naruto lay dead. He continued to take the katana and plunge it through various places of Naruto's body in a heated frenzy of bloodlust. He was cutting into soft crimson ribbons of flesh until what was left of Naruto's body was unidentifiable. There was blood, so much blood.

Sakura's tears acted up again and next thing she knew, she was crying into the murderer's arms, pounding on his chest. How she could stand being so close to him, she didn't know. She couldn't stop repeating "why?" throughout her shocked stupor. She choked on her tears and couldn't breathe. Everything she knew was gone. How could this be happening? Sakura was becoming hysterical and still couldn't gain an ounce of control over her actions.

Strong arms wrapped around her waist once more. It almost made Sakura feel like he cared. All she could feel was pain right now. It was eating at her, picking at her with its claws before devouring her in the most painful way.

"It's going to be okay, Sakura." He whispered into her ear, trying to calm her. "There isn't anything to worry about anymore. It's going to be fine." She was finally starting to see the frayed ends of sanity tugging her back into the world. For a few moments, Sakura forgot who was holding her and making her feel comforted.

"There isn't a reason for you to worry about your friends any longer. After all…you're going to be joining them so very soon." Sakura froze the moment she heard those words. The man in front of her smirked and shoved his bloody katana through Sakura's heart.

"Arigato, Sakura."

"Sasuke…" Sakura managed to mutter the last word with her remaining breath. She fell limp in Sasuke's arms, dead and free to join her friends in oblivion.

**A/N: Well, the changes aren't too noticeable but I feel that it makes a slight bit more sense this way. I'm off to edit chapter two as it now needs extra editing too! And with each small edit comes a bigger edit in each chapter afterwards until I get to the newer chapters.**


	2. Ninja Way

**A/N: Quick note, the "OoOoO" means that there's something like a scene change (or just a simple break line) going on. If there is "ooo" then that is a switch between POV during the same scene. Hope that clears everything up. **

**This has been edited from the original version! Starting here the plot will go about a bit differently. I don't want the story to seem as…rushed as it already is.**

**(This is a combined version of old chapter 2 and 3)**

**OoOoO**

_"There isn't a reason for you to worry about your friends any longer. After all…you're going to be joining them so very soon." Sakura froze the moment she heard those words. The man in front of her smirked and shoved his bloody katana through Sakura's heart._

_"Arigato, Sakura."_

_"Sasuke…" Sakura managed to mutter the last word with her remaining breath. She fell limp in Sasuke's arms, dead and free to join her friends in oblivion._

OoOoO

Sakura screamed. She screamed until her lungs wouldn't allow her to scream any longer. She was drenched. What is this? Looking down at her body she found it was only sweat. It had been a dream, a horrifyingly detailed dream. Her body trembled.

_'__It had seemed so real…and Sasuke. Sasuke was there.'_

She hurriedly got out of bed. Before giving anything else another thought, she ran out of her apartment door, down the streets of Konoha, and up to a very familiar apartment. Sakura started banging frantically on the door until a familiar blond answered the door.

Naruto made contact with the floor as he was pummeled by a hysterical, crying Sakura. She was mumbling out frantic words as she inspected his face thoroughly before continuing to cry on his shoulder.

"Sakura? What happened to you?" Naruto asked curiously. She was on the edge of hysteria.

"You…asleep…Sasuke…NO!" She shook her head vigorously. It was clear that Sakura was traumatized with whatever had happened. Naruto picked Sakura up and carried her to his sofa. He turned to go and get some tea to help calm his teammate down only to get pulled back. "Don't leave me. Please don't leave me." The look in her eyes was enough to convince him.

Naruto sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug. He ran his hands through Sakura's hair while she busied herself with not letting go. At least she had stopped crying. He hated watching people cry. It was even worse to see Sakura cry, the girl he had loved for years and the woman who became his best friend.

"Tell me what happened, Sakura." Naruto urged in the most soothing voice he could, hoping to get a reason for the bump on his head he was trying to ignore.

"I …I had a horrible dream. S-Sasuke killed everyone. He killed you." Sakura tightened her grip on Naruto. She was drowned in a new series of her tears. She continued to tell him the gruesome details that she had seen. He comforted her until she fell into a light sleep. Naruto picked her up and put her in his bed before returning to the small sofa area.

He contemplated the possibilities that something like that might actually happen. Naruto had no idea why this happened to her. She was never the one to have such frightening dreams. The way Sasuke had acted in Sakura's dream was very much like him. Sasuke was the kind of person to have one person suffer beyond all else, but why Sakura? Arrogant as it may have sounded even in Naruto's head, Sasuke wouldn't have picked Sakura to suffer the most, it would have been Naruto. There was one other thing that kept the dream from being completely believable and that was Sasuke killing him in his sleep. The real Sasuke wouldn't do that. He would have woken him and asked for a proper fight.

'_It's fine. It's only a dream. Sakura will be back to herself in no time at all,_' Naruto thought, drifting off to sleep as well.

OoOoO

Sasuke stood miles away from Konoha. His stoic mask was on his face. His newly renamed Team Hawk stood behind him.

"We leave for Konoha at dawn," was all Sasuke said before leaving his team to go some place quiet. He was thinking over what Madara had told him.

'_Itachi…'_

OoOoO

Sakura woke that morning tired and restless. She looked around. Naruto's room…but where was Naruto? Panicking, she ran out of the small bedroom but stopped abruptly saw Naruto on the sofa. He was curled up into one of the corners of the sofa and looked a lot like a small baby fox. She was just about to squeal about how cute he looked when suddenly Naruto's mouth fell open and he started to snore as buckets of drool came pouring out of his mouth.

Sakura stared at him for a few moments. 'Naruto will never change.' She smiled. He better not change or she was going to have to kill him. At that last thought, she paused. No. She couldn't say that now, not after her dream. Despite how stupid he may act, he was her best friend save Ino, and she wouldn't trade him for the world. She walked over to the kitchen area, pushing her dream to the back of her head. She got out different things from his refrigerator, ready to cook some breakfast.

After the food was done she headed off to wake up Naruto. Sakura never got that far. He was standing there above Naruto. No, this couldn't be happening. Not now. Not when Sakura needed Naruto so much.

ooo

"You always were naive, Naruto." He reached for his katana, slowly pulling it out and readying it above the blonde's head. He would savor the moment. He wouldn't kill him. No. That would be too easy and Naruto wasn't meant to be taken care of so simply. The blonde needed to suffer more than he'd suffered before.

Sasuke needed to finally tear the bond that tied him to Konoha before he could destroy it. He would finish this. Konoha would pay for making his brother do what he did.

The katana dropped a few inches closer to Naruto's head. Sasuke was just about ready to make a slice in the flesh that slept so innocently before him until he heard a soft gasp. Sakura…

He looked up and saw her standing there, wide eyed and completely traumatized. So she had gotten the gift he'd sent her, the torturous jutsu seen in the form of a dream. Sasuke would make them both suffer. He'd kill each of them slowly in front of each other. They'd suffer until they begged for death to consume them.

He left Naruto's side and stepped toward Sakura. She stumbled backwards, a hand placed over her mouth. Despair was sewn into her very being. Every ounce of hope was gone and her eyes showed only fear. Sasuke smirked. Sakura was always so weak.

"Sakura, it's so nice to finally see you again." He lied, his voice dripping malice. He took another step forward. A sadistic smile danced across his face. Perhaps he'd torture Sakura a bit first. That seems like a most tempting idea. He took a step forward, ready to strike at any given moment.

ooo

Sakura realized at that moment_, 'It's now or nothing. I need to do something about this. I am not weak!_' She straightened herself out and took a stance. She would fight him if it meant saving Naruto.

"I'm not going to let you hurt him, even if it costs my life." Sakura spoke with the confidence she gained in the years Sasuke had been gone. She would not lose, not when it came down to this. Not when Naruto's life was at stake.

Sasuke smirked, a rather sinister thing to behold. "What brave words for someone so…weak." The last word was spat out in disgust.

Sakura scowled. She wasn't normally the one to be irrational but that last remark hit the sore spot in Sakura's ego. Pain. He'd feel so much pain; she would make sure of it. She jumped out at him, her fist missing its target only because of Sasuke's speed. A growl escaped her lips.

"A little testy, aren't you Sakura? You'll never land a hit that way," he said. He seemed amused. She went after him again, faster this time. She was closer to hitting him but only just missed it. Frowning, she made small blade out of her chakra and tried again. She had been trained by Tsunade. She would not fail. She could not fail.

Life was put into slow motion as she moved forward, a blur, and Sasuke moved backward. Like a familiar action movie, Sakura missed his head but a lock of his hair fell to the ground. She was so furious at him and moved relentlessly.

After spending a long time of Sakura fighting and Sasuke dodging, she managed to pin him against a wall. She had already slashed his clothes and arms. Never had she made a serious injury. Now he was cornered and she would get him.

"Are you going to kill me, Sakura? Go ahead. I know you can't do it. You're too weak." Sasuke said, smirking. This was too rich. There was no way he'd die by Sakura. Even if she had what it took, he would be gone before she could think.

Sakura raised her chakra blade. It was obvious even to Sasuke that she was thinking this over. Her rage had been her strength throughout the battle but now it was the real thing. Could she kill him? No, but she would get pretty close.

One hand made its way to Sasuke's neck and the other was at his throat. The smirk was still plastered on his face. Sakura would fix that.

"I'm tired of that smirk." Her blade made its way to his mouth. He stayed completely still, for reasons unknown to Sakura. Just as she was about to make the cut, he used the body flicker to get behind her. Now she was trapped, face pressed against the wall.

"Such empty threats, Sakura, are not to be taken seriously. I can't fight you back if you don't intend to kill me. Goodbye Sakura." With those words, Sasuke vanished. Sakura cursed. She had the chance to finally rid herself of her weakness for good but couldn't take it. She dropped to the floor, exhausted and humiliated.

"Sakura, what happened?" Naruto had barely woken up.

"Naruto, you idiot."

Sakura promptly passed out.

**OoOoO**

Sakura groaned, opening her eyes and trying to sit up. Apparently her state of unconsciousness had been short lived.

'_What happened? Where'd Sasuke go?'_It suddenly hit her, very hard actually. '_That bastard got away!'_

The devious thoughts of how to get revenge stumbled into her mind and decided it liked being there. Sakura was going to find him and then torture him very slowly like he had done to her. Sasuke would pay very deeply and would beg to be left to die. While he was groveling, Sakura would look at him with cold unfeeling eyes and-

"Sakura, you're finally awake!" Naruto's voice banished the thoughts immediately and she was left with hushed anger. Sakura stared blankly at the blonde. He gave her a weird flop-sided smile, making him look much like the young fox from earlier. The picture of him sleeping came to mind and she burst out laughing. Even the confused look on his face was priceless.

"Are you okay, Sakura? First you get mysteriously beaten, then you get this freaky demonic aura around you, and now you're laughing." Naruto was genuinely confused and scared with Sakura's actions. It was too weird.

Sakura's face sobered and she managed to tell Naruto what happened, "Sasuke was here. He wanted to kill you. I was just thinking of a very scary revenge and the look on your face was so funny that it'd be crazy not to laugh." She ruffled his hair.

"Sasuke was here?" Naruto freaked out. Sasuke hadn't been seen since Sai first became part of Team 7. It had been 2 years **(A/N: Let's just pretend here, people. They are now around 17**) since they stopped the search. It had disheartened Naruto but he'd recovered eventually and the sage training had helped a lot as well.

"Naruto, he was about to kill you and was going to make me watch. Promise me that you'll be careful. If he's in Konoha, it's not for a 'Welcome Home' party." She looked at him very seriously. It seemed so different now. She needed to tell Tsunade quickly. Sakura excused herself from Naruto's apartment, leaving him to think things over for a while.

oOoOo

Tsunade slammed her hand down on the table (anime cliché number 1 million 33). The desk, it seems, wasn't in very good shape in the first place.

'_First no sake and now too much paper work! Die paperwork, die!'_ Tsunade willed the paper in front of her to magically combust but sadly it didn't. This day was going to go downhill from here. She looked at a newspaper with the lottery numbers on them and her eyes widened.

'_NO! What's going to happen now?'_ Tsunade immediately started worrying. The numbers on her card matched the winning numbers. Knowing her luck, that meant something disastrous was about to occur.

The door opened revealing a very worried Sakura. Was she in on this? Tsunade demanded to know what was wrong. Konoha could be at stake and the lives of everyone in it as well.

"Sasuke is back." The Godaime sighed. This she could probably handle. One rogue ninja that was coming back to his home village was no problem. "He's come to destroy Konoha." Damn. Can't things ever go as she wanted them to? Well, at least the lottery money was pretty high. She could probably use it to buy sake without Shizune knowing.

Tsunade sighed again and leaned back against the chair. This was getting complicated. What was it with Uchiha men and betraying the village, huh? Was there some kind of 'demand to be all-powerful' gene in their blood or something? This was just getting ridiculous.

"Call Shizune, the council, and all of the Jounin level ninja. They need to be aware of the circumstances." Tsunade looked out of one of the many windows in her office. It would be useful to have Jiraiya in here about now. He was good with these sorts of things.

oOoOo

Sakura sat down on Naruto's couch. It really had been a long day for everyone. The news wouldn't be announced to the public for two reasons alone. The first was that all the civilians would start panicking. The second was that Sasuke's fan clubs would want a picture and get themselves killed in the process. It was amazing how completely stupid that second reason was. Just a few days ago, Ino and Sakura were talking about how foolish they were back then. It was the conversation that came up a million times soon after Sasuke's name was. They had never really gotten over the few years of their life they'd never get back. They had been stupid enough to devote themselves to the amazing 'Sasuke-kun.' What would happen to everyone now that he was back to kill them all?

At that moment, Naruto chose to walk into his apartment. He was surprised to find Sakura there. She was never very fond of how small the place was or how dirty he kept it.

As if on a scripted cue, Sakura mentioned casually how dirty the place was along with the unexpected, "Let's go over to my place. He won't find us as quickly if he's looking for us. Tsunade practically forced me to get you to move in with me." Recently Sakura had moved into an apartment building across the village because it was closer to the outskirts, not to mention that it was twice as big as her old apartment. Sakura loved closet space and this had plenty.

Naruto blinked once…twice. He was moving in with Sakura? About 3 years ago, this would've made him jump with some sort of joy. Now it just seemed a bit surreal. Amazing how today's hectic could make a person so nostalgic.

Naruto moved slowly towards his room. He moved even slower to gather up his things. He didn't really snap out of it until Sakura hit him over the head.

"Baka, do you want him to kill you? The longer we stay here the easier it's going to be for him to track us." Sakura stood above Naruto who was cradling his head on the floor. She was livid at the thought of anyone in this village dying at the hand of her former teammate. No one was going to die on her watch, not even Naruto…especially not Naruto.

oOoOo

After settling into Sakura's spare bedroom, Naruto went into the spacious living fully prepared to simply sit there lazily for the remainder of the evening. Sakura however, had other plans. She came up to him with an abundance of scrolls and told him to start looking through them. They needed a way to ensure Sasuke wouldn't find them. They needed a disguise.

"Sakura, I can't do that." Naruto frowned. "That would be like running from Sasuke and I can't do that. It's against my ninja way." It went against everything he stood for, everything he planned on doing. He couldn't defeat Sasuke if he was in hiding.

"Naruto," Sakura said, her voice low and serious, "we need time. If we don't find a could way to hide ourselves from him, he could attack us before we are fully prepared. We _need _as much time as we can get. If Sasuke is here, he won't be alone. He could have made an army of ninjas. Konoha isn't ready after that kind of attack. Some people still have not been able to manage after Pein attacked. This is crucial."

Naruto realized his defeat. Sakura was right. With enough time, the ninjas could be prepared for battle. To defeat Sasuke, Naruto still had to train more. The last time they had fought, Sasuke was in the lead. It was Naruto's duty to protect the village and he would do anything to fulfill that duty. It was his ninja way.

**OoOoO**

**A/N: GASP! While I was combining chapters 2 and 3 I realized that there's too much Naru/Saku fluff! It's not that I don't like the pairing but it just doesn't flow with the rest of the story.**

**So at that last part, I definitely had to change the whole transformation scene to something more practical. The only reason I started editing this story in the first place was because it was total crap. This is my attempt at fixing it. So it seems a lot more likely that Naruto would struggle against just going into hiding.**

**Tell me what you think in a review por favor!**


End file.
